So, hi. I'm a 15 year old female, previously diagnosed with dysthymia, seasonal affective disorder and generalised anxiety. I joined this forum to seek personal advice from others on my situation, and if I should seek a diagnosis of ASD, or whether it is social anxiety.
I'll try and make this short, and feedback would be very apprieciated.
WHY I THINK ASD:
- Very poor communication, and relate to 'masking' very much. I hardly ever start conversations, especially to strangers. Maybe a 'Yes' or 'No' answer if poss. I get others to speak for me a lot, & when I can't do this I get very stressed. Also rarely share important info. E.G. Didn't tell mom about first period, even though I didn't know what it was at the time. I just accepted 'I may die.' as an answer and went without sanitary products until mom... found traces of it.
-I notice details a lot, I nearly always draw characters and always spens hours on detials not often noticed.
-I 'stim'. IDK if i can call it that, but I bob my right leg up and down all the time. Also like rocking when in more private places.
-Intrests. I love manga, Vocaloid and Overwatch. Have stupid amounts of merch and my approx. 4.5 ft shelf is stuffed with manga, with more that can't fit (All read). I've been reading manga for 9 months. I love talking about them but my outer social circle constantly tell me they dont care. Only 1 or 2 ppl I could call 'friends' listen to me about these things.
When I was young (3-6 ish yrs old), I was obsessed with trains. My parents couldnt take me anywhere without a train, otherwise I would cry and have a tantrum. Other 'strange' interests for my age and especially gender growing up include space, dinosaurs and the human body
- Never used to play pretend with other girls when young. Always tag, on bikes or playing with lego, often by myself or with 1 or 2 others.
-High & low pitched nosies hurt my ears and stress me. E.G. whistles, screaming & low basslines on songs. Volume doesn't bother me as much. Other things that stress me: Fast flashing lights, crumbs & sand, lumps of food in more liquidy stuff like baked beans. I also think water and salt have very strong smells which others say is weird.
-Routine. Any change in my plan for day upsets me. I need at least 6 hrs notice to be comfortable with change. I also eat meals in same order every time, eating nearly everything seperate bc taste is sometimes overpowering.
-'Gifted' IQ & 'photographic memory'. I am often praised for being intelligent and having a good memory, but in subjects like eng literature i really struggle, despite others not realising, linking back to masking IMO. I excel in science and computer sci.
-Least reliable but an online test. Me, diagnosed aspie friend and two ppl without ASD took a test as a joke. NonASD ppl scored 14-16. ASD friend scored 36. I scored 46. Kinda stuck w/ me bc i dont feel like social anxiety perfectly describes me.
WHY I AM UNSURE ABOUT ASD:
-I don't deal with sensory issues as much as i feel i should for a diagnosis. There are things that cause me distress, but I don't know if I struggle enough.
-I can sort of read people's emotions. I can tell if someone is happy of sad 70% of time, and can notice boredom and sarcasm when obvious. I conciously use sarcasm sometimes: Say the opposite of what you mean and stress the most opposite-ed words. I may just be dumb but I often cant tell what others are thinking or predict them, but I think this goes against ASD.
-I'm relatively polite. I try to say what will make others happy, and say please and ty as and when my mother has taught. I can't see rudeness in others though and others sometimes do say I'm rude, whilst others say i'm polite
TY for reading this far, your opinion is greatly appreciated. I havent told my mom about this and I don't want to put her through the stress and time of a screening, but i dont want to go without a diagnosis either. Please tell me what u think i should do. Thank you again.
I'll try and make this short, and feedback would be very apprieciated.
WHY I THINK ASD:
- Very poor communication, and relate to 'masking' very much. I hardly ever start conversations, especially to strangers. Maybe a 'Yes' or 'No' answer if poss. I get others to speak for me a lot, & when I can't do this I get very stressed. Also rarely share important info. E.G. Didn't tell mom about first period, even though I didn't know what it was at the time. I just accepted 'I may die.' as an answer and went without sanitary products until mom... found traces of it.
-I notice details a lot, I nearly always draw characters and always spens hours on detials not often noticed.
-I 'stim'. IDK if i can call it that, but I bob my right leg up and down all the time. Also like rocking when in more private places.
-Intrests. I love manga, Vocaloid and Overwatch. Have stupid amounts of merch and my approx. 4.5 ft shelf is stuffed with manga, with more that can't fit (All read). I've been reading manga for 9 months. I love talking about them but my outer social circle constantly tell me they dont care. Only 1 or 2 ppl I could call 'friends' listen to me about these things.
When I was young (3-6 ish yrs old), I was obsessed with trains. My parents couldnt take me anywhere without a train, otherwise I would cry and have a tantrum. Other 'strange' interests for my age and especially gender growing up include space, dinosaurs and the human body
- Never used to play pretend with other girls when young. Always tag, on bikes or playing with lego, often by myself or with 1 or 2 others.
-High & low pitched nosies hurt my ears and stress me. E.G. whistles, screaming & low basslines on songs. Volume doesn't bother me as much. Other things that stress me: Fast flashing lights, crumbs & sand, lumps of food in more liquidy stuff like baked beans. I also think water and salt have very strong smells which others say is weird.
-Routine. Any change in my plan for day upsets me. I need at least 6 hrs notice to be comfortable with change. I also eat meals in same order every time, eating nearly everything seperate bc taste is sometimes overpowering.
-'Gifted' IQ & 'photographic memory'. I am often praised for being intelligent and having a good memory, but in subjects like eng literature i really struggle, despite others not realising, linking back to masking IMO. I excel in science and computer sci.
-Least reliable but an online test. Me, diagnosed aspie friend and two ppl without ASD took a test as a joke. NonASD ppl scored 14-16. ASD friend scored 36. I scored 46. Kinda stuck w/ me bc i dont feel like social anxiety perfectly describes me.
WHY I AM UNSURE ABOUT ASD:
-I don't deal with sensory issues as much as i feel i should for a diagnosis. There are things that cause me distress, but I don't know if I struggle enough.
-I can sort of read people's emotions. I can tell if someone is happy of sad 70% of time, and can notice boredom and sarcasm when obvious. I conciously use sarcasm sometimes: Say the opposite of what you mean and stress the most opposite-ed words. I may just be dumb but I often cant tell what others are thinking or predict them, but I think this goes against ASD.
-I'm relatively polite. I try to say what will make others happy, and say please and ty as and when my mother has taught. I can't see rudeness in others though and others sometimes do say I'm rude, whilst others say i'm polite
TY for reading this far, your opinion is greatly appreciated. I havent told my mom about this and I don't want to put her through the stress and time of a screening, but i dont want to go without a diagnosis either. Please tell me what u think i should do. Thank you again.